Staged by Design Blog

My Mother always said that my mouth would get me in trouble. It’s true. My report cards often reflected phrases like, “talkative”, and “chatty”.  My parents became accustomed to seeing those phrases on my permanent record, and I always hoped my achievements would overcome my penchant for excessive conversation.

I was curious to see how being talkative might translate as an adult. So, I consulted the Visual Thesaurus (a very cool tool for us visual thinkers, by the way). It shows talkative as: “chatty” (yeah, yeah, yeah), “loquacious”, and the less flattering, “big mouthed”.  However, on the positive side, it lists a phrase of “friendly, and open and willing to talk”, although right next to the less flattering, “full of trivial conversation”.  Hmmm.

My point to all this is that in my former career, I achieved the goal of becoming a corporate trainer, something I worked toward for several years. Now that I own my own business, I’m able to channel a lifetime of being “talkative” combined with my professional training background to deliver Home Selling and Home Staging seminars. The seminars are geared towards educating and informing home owners, Real Estate agents and the general public on the benefits of staging. I also provide practical tips and helpful hints to aid in the process of preparing your home for sale.

I’ve participated in six seminars so far in 2010, for companies such as Northwest Federal Credit Union and Westminster Canterbury, in addition to numerous in-house presentations for Real Estate agents.

So, who says being talkative is a bad thing?

We sure hope so. I just found out that Staged by Design has been nominated for a Small Business Award for the Loudoun County for the third year in a row.

It is an honor to be nominated, as there are some fantastic companies recognized this year. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

If you are attending this years Capital Home and Garden Show at the Expo Center in Chantilly, be sure to visit the Home Solutions Networks booth, number 2520, in the North Building. We are part of their referral network, and owner Dawn Lambert asked me to assist them in the setup of their booth, providing decorative accessories.

Dawn and her crew, along with featured contractor Jason Boyle will also be speaking on Friday, February 26th at 3:00 pm in the South Hall regarding how to choose the right contractor. Don’t miss it!

Click here for more information on the Capital Home and Garden Show.

Hours of the show are:

Thu Feb 25 5:00pm-9:00pm
Fri Feb 26 10:00am-9:00pm
Sat Feb 27 10:00am-9:00pm
Sun Feb 28 10:00am-6:00pm

If your school chalkboard came in some of the fantastic colors from Hudson Paint, you might reconsider. I recently stumbled upon this fun twist on the standard green or black options, at www.hudsonpaint.com.

Check the “Our Ideas” section for inspiration. Enjoy!

Turquoise! You read it correctly, Turquoise. This year’s color has an easily recognizable name and immediate color association, unlike last year’s bold yellow choice entitled “Mimosa”. In my opinion, it also is a much more practical color, both in interior design and home staging as well as fashion.

Turquoise as a color has both warm and cool undertones, and it is the perfect match for neutrals such as beige and brown, offering a variation of the popular blue and brown color combination. We’ve seen it for years in jewelry and fashion, both as a statement of casual sophistication, earthy charm, and now as couture.

In staging, I recommend using it as an accent color, to bring depth and dimension to rooms, as it has just the boldness needed to provide the much needed “pop” in online photos. I can see using it as a throw, in pillows, and decorative accessories.  I love this boucle throw from Crate and Barrel, also available in green.

For practical application as a paint color, try Benjamin Moore’s Turquoise Mist or a bold accent, Tropical Turquoise, also from Benjamin Moore.